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On a world basis, heliodinids are food plant specialists. Of the 33 species for which larval hosts are known, 90% feed on plants in the Order Caryophyllales, while three species specialize on Araliaceae (Order Apiales), Onagraceae (Order Myrtales), or Piperaceae (Order Piperales). There are 25 or 26 species of heliodinids known to use Nyctaginaceae as larval hosts, approximately 75% of those for which larval host plants are recorded, and use of Nyctaginaceae appears to be a worldwide pattern. Among Caryophyllales feeders which do not use Nyctaginaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Phytolaccaeae feeding...

On a world basis, heliodinids are food plant specialists. Of the 33 species for which larval hosts are known, 90% feed on plants in the Order Caryophyllales, while three species specialize on Araliaceae (Order Apiales), Onagraceae (Order Myrtales), or Piperaceae (Order Piperales). There are 25 or 26 species of heliodinids known to use Nyctaginaceae as larval hosts, approximately 75% of those for which larval host plants are recorded, and use of Nyctaginaceae appears to be a worldwide pattern. Among Caryophyllales feeders which do not use Nyctaginaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Phytolaccaeae feeding are found in the most basal lineage, the European Heliodines roesella, suggesting that specialization to Caryophyllales feeding occurred in the early evolution of the Heliodinidae. This chapter describes the biology of Heliodinidae including larval host plant relationships, life history, voltinism, diapause, behavior, mating, hind leg posture, oviposition, and larval and pupal biology.